I have had the Bold on AT&T since the day it came out and have generally been pretty happy. Came from a Pearl so the size/weight took some getting used to but once I did, I feel / felt like other BBs were "toys"...they just seems so small and flimsy. I have had some call failed / dropped call issues w/ .167 and .210 (I am in Manhattan BTW) but since upgrading to .266 things have been more stable.

Anyway, I upgraded my wife from an 8300 to the 8900 on AT&T on Saturday. I must say I am pretty impressed w/ the 8900. I definitely like the larger screen and bigger softer keys of the Bold better but the 8900's form factor is fantastic. Had I not already adjusted to the size of the Bold this would definitely be the device for me. I have run a number of side by side tests w/ Wifi off on both devices to compare identical web pages loads as well as apps like Google Maps. For the most part the Bold beats the 8900 when loading pages but BARELY. There have been a few occasions, mostly basic WAP pages, where the 8900 won by a tiny bit. The Bold's processor does seem a little faster, loading apps a split second quicker. But if you weren't holding the devices side-by-side you would never notice. The 8900 is more than acceptable.

I am NOT going to ditch my Bold for the 8900 because as I said above I am used to the size of the Bold so the better form factor of the 8900 isn't a huge deal for me (at the time I upgraded from the Pearl it would have been though). Also the bigger screen and better keyboard (IMO - I have big fat fingers) on the Bold are not worth trading. The dropped calls on the Bold seem to be less of an issue lately and for the most part I get a pretty steady 3G signal. My battery life is easily a full day (I'm usually at 60% by the end of the day) and I can usually squeeze 2 days if I need it, but I charge it every night so not an issue. So the better battery life of the 8900 isn't a major factor either. All that being said, if I didn't have my Bold and was picking a BB right now I would go w/ the 8900.

I guess my one concern w/ going w/ the 8900 would be all the talk that AT&T is re-purposing 2G spectrum to 3G to improve the stability and ultimately they are going to migrate everyone to 3G. I'm sure that will take time but if it happens I wouldn't want a 2G device. Of course the flip side of that is that when the new iPhone comes out I'm sure there will be some major 3G hiccups. What to people think about this?

Anyway hope this is helpful to people choosing between the two. Both are great devices at the end of the day.